Heney a



'(No Model.)

H. A. STEARN$.

AUTOMATIG FIRE EXTINGU-ISHER.

,No. 245,884. Patented Aug. 16,1881! WITNESSES INVENTORI UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE,

HENRY A. STEARNS, OF LINCOLN, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO JOSEPH R. BROWN,OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, AND JOHN M. HALL, OF

VVALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,884, dated August16, 1881.

Application filed February 5, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY A. STEARNS, ofLincoln, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island,haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic FireExtinguishers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to an improvementin self-actingfireextinguishcrs secured to a system of pipes distributed through abuilding, and consisting in the peculiar construction of the distributerand the means for closing the outlet, as will be more fully Set forthherein-atter.

The object of this invention is to simplify the construction, facilitatethe cleaning of the distribul er, and insure the prompt action of thedevice.'

Figure l is a view of my improved automatic fire-extinguisher. Fig. 2 isa sectional view of the same, showing a nipple the end of which isclosed, with a ball secured in the nipple by means of solder fusible ata low temperature, and a perforated rosesprinkler, the lower part ofwhich is provided with a large hole, in which the ball rests whenreleased.

In the drawings, a is anipple, provided with the screw-thread b, bywhich it can be screwed onto a pipe, and the screw-thread c on its othersurface,to receive the rose-sprinkler d. The end of the nipple a isprovided with a seat to 5 receive the ball 0. The ball a and the seat onthe nipple are trimmed, and the ball is secured to the nipple by asolder made of bismuth or similar material, so as to melt at a lowtemperature.

The device is used suspended below the system of pipes, with the openingpointing down- (No model.)

ward, so that the ball 6 will drop from the seat in the nipple a andopen the outlet by gravity as soon as the solder is melted.

An ordinary rose-sprinkler may be loosely 5 screwed over the nipple, asthejoint need not be water-tight, and such a rose or other sprinkler maybe removed from time to time to clean the same; but I prefer to use asprinkler such as is shown in the drawings, in which all the holes areon the upper half of the sprinkler, so as to spray against the ceiling,and the large hole f nearly as large as the ball c--is placed at thelower part below the ball, so that the sprinkler can be cleaned withoutbeing removed, and 5 that the hole will be closed by the ball whenreleased and the water be forced through the perforations. By thisarrangement any of the .old systems in which rosesprinklers are used,

and which are supplied with water from a sys- 6o tem of pipes operatedby means of valves, can be made automatic by making nipples of theproper size, soldering a ball into the end ofthe nipple, and interposingthe nipple between the pipe-outlets and the rOsesprinkler. Each outletwill then open automatically when influenced by a fire sufficientto meltthe solder, and the available water-su ppl y will be concentrated on thesprinklers near the fire, avoiding excessive damage by water andconfining the damage by fire.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The combination, with the nipple a, of the ball 0,secured by solder, and the sprinkler d, provided with the holef,constructed substantially as and for the purpose described.

HENRY A. STEARNS.

Witnesses:

J. A. MILLER, J r., JOSEPH A. MILLER.

